Abu Dhabi: At 33, Shadi Radwan weighed a whopping 210 kilograms, and the excess weight was being a literal pain. Unable to stand for long or play with hione-year-old son, the Palestinian national recently underwent bariatric surgery to remove a portion of his stomach
His doctor now projects a weight loss of 60 kilograms over the next six months.
“Being obese was devastating. The simplest activities were hard as my feet would hurt, and my condition not only affected me, but…my family too,” Radwan said.
“This surgery will now change my life. I [hope to be able to] walk faster without feeling fatigued, and it will help me become a better father to my Qusayy, my son,” he told Gulf News.
Radwan had a body mass index of 68.5, and in medical terms, this put him the severely obese category when he opted for the surgery. But his doctor, Dr Toufic Ata, general surgery consultant and head of the bariatric clinic at the Medeor 24x7 Hospital, said Radwan recovered very quickly from the bariatric surgery: a sleeve gastrectomy in which about 80 per cent of his stomach was removed laparoscopically, while the remaining portion was stapled into a tubular pouch.
“It truly is an amazing feat that he responded so well and that he could be discharged just two days after his surgery. Additionally, he healed so well that I was able to remove his sutures only seven days after he was discharged,” said.
Radwan says he feels completely fine since the surgery and after resting for two weeks, he went back to work yesterday (August 12).
“I am still on a liquid diet, and it will be take me about three months to slowly progress to a normal diet with solid foods. My appetite is also very small, but I feel very energetic,” he said.
Dr Ata added that bariatric surgery is an effective form of treatment for obesity, and it reverses the risk of related diseases and comorbidities. Obesity is highly prevalent in the UAE, and more than 60 per cent of residents are known to suffer from excess weight and related diseases.
“I was a little nervous about opting for the procedure, but I found that most people did well if they followed medical advice in the recovery period. That is why I chose this route,” he said. The procedure cost him about Dh30,000.
